Dolphins vs. Saints preview: 5 questions with Saints Wire

For the third time since 2014, the Dolphins will travel to London for an early-season contest, this time against the Saints.

Miami will try to regroup from their disappointing 20-6 loss to the Jets last Sunday. While the Dolphins came out on the losing end last week, the Saints manhandled the Panthers 34-13 to get their first win of the season.

1. What was the difference between the Saints’ win last weekend against the Panthers and the first two weeks of the season?

Probably the Panthers. The Vikings and Patriots appear to be playoff contenders, while the Panthers looked anything but that this past Sunday. New Orleans got to play a game against a team without their only two offensive weapons, and it showed. This was the first game the Saints defense looked like it did in the preseason, when there was no game-planning and they were able to stop teams. It will take another similar effort to get any confidence this is something that can be expected.

2. Drew Brees is playing so well this year — how has he stayed so consistent throughout the years?

Breezy has a fountain of youth in his backyard. Gotta be. His yardage totals are a little down, as he’s currently on pace for 4,600 yards, and that would be his lowest total since 2010. However, he has yet to throw an interception through three games, and that’s not something the Saints normally see. He’s an avid training guy, and he and the Saints have adopted the weekly regimen that Tony Romo made famous in Dallas, with the veteran quarterback getting Wednesday practice off. Hopefully, that will keep Methuselah ready to roll on Sundays throughout the season.

3. Adrian Peterson has just 77 yards on 23 carries. Was this a bad signing to begin with?

Yeah, it was. Peterson was a nice idea, but after the Saints traded up for Alvin Kamara in the draft, it was obvious there was going to be a problem. The Saints just haven’t seemed to have a plan on how to juggle their backs in a passing offense. They’ve never trusted Mark Ingram, and he just turned in his first career 1,000-yard season before they signed AP and drafted Kamara. Kamara seems to be the best back, but he gets zero carries and they hand it off to Peterson 61 percent of the limited snaps he plays. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets traded before the deadline to free things up.

4. Why has the Saints defense performed so badly the last couple of seasons?

It’s a combination of bad personnel and bad scheme. It’s taken a while to get the stink of Rob Ryan to wash off, and the transition to Dennis Allen’s 4-3 hasn’t been as quick as they hoped. They did seem to get some quality draft picks this year, though, so that should be the impetus for a turnaround. Two secondary players, Marshon Lattimore and Marcus Williams, look like centerpieces to a future quality group. Alex Anzalone is a promising linebacker if he can stay healthy, and adding Trey Hendrickson to Cam Jordan should pay dividends.

5. What is your prediction for the game on Sunday?

I’m tempted to go Dolphins with Jay Ajayi playing in front of his home country, but I’ll still lean toward New Orleans, 27-21.

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